Who Is Tris A Tragic Hero

Aristotle, a well -known Greek philosopher, developed a literary archetype which is still used today in modern literature. This common archetype is that of the tragic hero, which is defined as a character of noble or high stature that has a flaw in his or her morality. This flaw will later trigger their downfall through a tragic event. After this event and their downfall, the hero experiences some form of self-realizations and understanding of their fate. In Veronica Roth’s Trilogy, Divergent, Tris Prior clearly demonstrates the characteristics of a tragic hero.

Due to Tris Prior’s high/noble status in her society, combined with her fatal weaknesses, she is a tragic hero. Tris is the daughter of a faction leader in Abnegation, a society

This gives Tris an aristocratic and noble status. Tris also shows a level of high status on account of her being divergent, meaning that she aware that the many simulations which the government puts her through are just that: simulations, as opposed to real life. Because the trait is very rare, Tris is of an elevated status, making her a unique and powerful young woman. This is most notable when she becomes aware that leaders of another faction, Erudite, are using the simulations to try to control people in other factions. In her attempt to rebel against Erudite, however, she demonstrates both excessive selflessness and impulsiveness, these exemplify her two fatal flaws. Her impulsiveness is clearly shown when the Dauntless soldiers (controlled by Erudite) come to kill all the divergents and she decides to fight them. Tris says, “Deep inside me I know the answer: I am being reckless. I will probably gain nothing. I will probably die. And more disturbing still: I don't really care” (Roth 181). Although

The people who followed Tris in the rebellion against Erudite saw her as a great leader and as a role model, “I don't belong to Abnegation, or Dauntless, or even the Divergent...I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me—they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could (Roth 455). This shows how Tris brought together her people through creating an atmosphere of love and respect. In turn, she became a symbol of loyalty and love to the people of the factions, allowing her the status of a role model. However, despite Tris being a good person, her flaws of impulsiveness and selflessness caused her ultimate downfall. The particular act that caused her death (her downfall) was when she elected to take Caleb’s (her brother) place and release the memory serum herself. The memory serum was to be released and reset the people of the factions memories in order to reestablish peace. However, this was only to be done because David, the man who created the faction system, wanted to continue his “faction experiment”. After Tris realized David’s intentions she wanted to release the memory serum inside the compound in which David and his team lived. Tris’ plan was to tell faction citizens about David and how the faction system was in fact just an experiment so the peace would be